Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/branesā

This Proto-Celtic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Celtic

Etymology

Uncertain; if the Old Cornish -nn- does not represent a geminate, this word could be a figurative derivative of *branos (“raven”). Vendryes rejects cognacy with Old Norse brandr and Latin frōns.^[1]

For the semantics of a bird name being used for a ship part, compare English crow's nest and Latin corvus.

Noun

*branesā f^[1]

prow of a ship

Inflection

Feminine ā-stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*branesā	*branesai	*branesās
vocative	*branesā	*branesai	*branesās
accusative	*branesam	*branesai	*branesāms
genitive	*branesās	*branesous	*branesom
dative	*branesāi	*branesābom	*branesābos
locative	*branesai	*?	*?
instrumental	*?	*branesābim	*branesābis

Descendants

Proto-Brythonic: *brėni
- ⇒ Old Cornish: brenniat (“man on the prow”) (with agent suffix)
- Old Welsh: breni
  - Middle Welsh: breni
Old Irish: braine
- Middle Irish: braine
  - Irish: braine

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Stifter, David (2023) “With the Back to the Ocean: The Celtic Maritime Vocabulary”, in Kristian Kristiansen, Guus Kroonen and Eske Willerslev, editors, The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited Integrating Archaeology, Genetics, and Linguistics, Cambridge University Press, page 188

[Stifter-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Stifter, David (2023) “With the Back to the Ocean: The Celtic Maritime Vocabulary”, in Kristian Kristiansen, Guus Kroonen and Eske Willerslev, editors, The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited Integrating Archaeology, Genetics, and Linguistics, Cambridge University Press, page 188

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